Resultados25 letters/passages
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To Ibas, Bishop of Edessa [one of the major cities of Roman Mesopotamia, modern Urfa in southeastern Turkey], I believe it is part of God's providential care for our common salvation that he allows certain calamities to fall upon some people. For the chastened, such misfortunes become a healing remedy. For those alread …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To Apellion. The sufferings of the people of Carthage would demand — and in their magnitude might exceed — the full power of tragic language, even of an Aeschylus or a Sophocles. Carthage was in the old days taken by the Romans only after tremendous effort. Time and again she contended with Rome for mastery of the worl …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To Eustathius, Bishop of Aegae, The story of the noble Mary belongs in a tragedy. As she herself says, and as several others confirm, she is a daughter of the distinguished Eudaemon. In the catastrophe that has overtaken Libya [likely the Vandal conquest of North Africa], she has fallen from her father's free estate in …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To the Archdeacon of Rome, A terrible storm has struck our churches, but the defenders of the apostolic faith have in your holiness a safe and quiet harbor. You not only champion the doctrines of the Gospel but also rightly detest the wrong done to me. I was living far away -- a full thirty-five days' journey -- when I …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To Claudianus, The divine celebration [Easter or a major feast] has brought us its usual spiritual blessings, but the bitter fruits of sin have not allowed us to enjoy them with a glad heart. Sin has always produced the same harvest: in the beginning it brought forth thorns, thistles, sweat, toil, and pain. Now it shak …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
Theodoret to Ibas, Bishop of Edessa. What I have long feared has now come to pass. The enemies of the true faith, emboldened by the silence of those who should resist them, press their advantage with growing audacity. Yet I take comfort in the knowledge that Your Holiness stands firm, a rock amid the rising tide. I ask …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Pancharius. We are distressed to see the tempest assailing the churches, but their Master and Ruler — through mighty billows — continually shows men his own wisdom and power. He rebukes the winds and brings on a calm, as he did in the apostles' boat. So although I am distressed, I know this power of our Savior, and …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Learned Maranas, I too grieve at the calamities of the Church and weep over the storm that rages. But for myself, I am glad to be free of the turmoil and to enjoy a calm I find deeply welcome. As for the men your learning tells me are still carrying on their crimes -- the day is not far off when they will pay th …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Lupicius, Even the enemies of the truth, I think, must be outraged at the injustice and illegality of the violence done to us. It stands to reason that those nurtured in the truth -- headed by your excellency -- should be even more distressed at this shocking turn of events. Those who grieve most deeply should show …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Candidus, Presbyter and Archimandrite, I am afraid that the vigor of your godly spirit has been overcome by old age, and that you can no longer keep your hands stretched out as you once did. So Amalek is trying to prevail. May there be people to support your weakness, just as Aaron and Hur once held up the hands of …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Bishop Romulus, You have reminded me of the ancient story -- how the king of Syria, knowing the merciful reputation of the kings of Israel, assumed the posture of a suppliant and did not fail to obtain his petition [1 Kings 20:31-34]. But remember, my lord, the divine wrath that followed: God delivered Ahab to utter …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Monks of Euphratensis, Osrhoene, Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia, When I contemplate the state of the Church at this present crisis -- the tempest that has struck the holy ship, the furious blasts, the beating waves, the deep darkness of the night, and beyond all this the strife of the sailors, the struggle among …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Prefect Antiochus. You have laid down the cares of a very important government, but your reputation flourishes everywhere. Those who have tasted the fruit of your benevolence — and they are many, and scattered in all directions — persistently extol it, proclaiming your good name on every side and moving their he …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Patrician Areobindas. In distributing wealth and poverty among human beings, the Creator and Governor of all renders no unjust judgment. He gives the poverty of the poor to the rich as an instrument of good — so that those who have wealth will have the means, and the occasion, to show kindness to mankind. This y …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Sophronius, Bishop of Constantina, Since I know, beloved of God, how generous and bountiful your right hand is, I am placing a precious opportunity within your reach. Men who hunger after worldly gain are annoyed at the sight of those who need financial help. But the generous are delighted -- because the riches they …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Bishop Sabinianus, I praised your holiness for leaving the see you were envied for. Once it was a venerable office; now it has been turned into something to be bought and sold, and we have made it ridiculous. But I was astonished to hear you had appealed to the very men who ejected you. You should have done the oppo …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Presbyter Theodotus, The battles your piety has fought on behalf of the apostolic doctrines are not unknown -- they are spoken of frequently, both by those who witnessed them firsthand and by those who have heard the stories from them. Continue your efforts, my dear sir, and fight for the doctrines of the Father …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Festal greeting. We are in great distress -- for we are made of flesh, not stone. But the remembrance of the Lord's Epiphany [the feast celebrating Christ's baptism and manifestation to the world] has proved a powerful medicine. So at once I write, as the custom of the feast requires, and greet your magnificence with a …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To John, Bishop of Germanicia, I replied to your holiness's earlier letter as soon as I received it. As for the present state of affairs, it is impossible to entertain any good hope. I fear this is the beginning of the general apostasy. When we see that those who claim to lament what was done "by violence" at Ephesus s …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Senator the Patrician. I hold an indelible memory of your Magnificence in my heart, and I greet you now through these most devout and holy bishops. The most holy lord Bishop Domnus has arranged for them to travel to the imperial city in order to put an end to the false charges that have been raised against me. For c …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Abundius, Bishop of Como, My dear lord and very holy brother, Theodoret sends greetings in the Lord. I have learned that your piety faithfully preserves the true and apostolic faith, and I have thanked Almighty God that the truth which was in danger has been renewed and brought to light by your holiness. Long ago, a …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Bishop Florentius, Truly the grace of our God and Savior has not yet abandoned the human race. He has left us a "seed" in your holiness, lest we become like Sodom and Gomorrah [Isaiah 1:9]. This seed keeps us from losing heart entirely and gives us reason to wait for the passing of this terrible storm. We have there …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
I have entrusted this message to the reverend and godly presbyters Hypatius and Abramius, chorepiscopi [rural bishops], and Alypius, head of our monks. I would come to you myself, but I am held back by the chains of the imperial order. Treat my messengers, I beg you, as a father treats his sons. Give them a kind and im …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Anatolius the Patrician, Your excellency is fully aware of the acts of the "most righteous" judges at Ephesus. Their fame has spread to every land, and their "most just" verdict has reached the ends of the earth. What church has not felt this storm? One side inflicted the wrong; the other suffered it. But even those …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Deaconess Celarina, The flames of the war against us have been lit again. After yielding for a time, the enemy of mankind has armed against us once more -- men nurtured on lies who openly slander me, claiming that I divide our one Lord Jesus Christ into two sons. I, however, know the distinction between Godhead …